The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday started probing the recent bomb blasts outside the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Arjun Singh at Bhatpara in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. Singh, who represents the local Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency, said he gave his statement to NIA officers.
The Union home ministry on Monday asked the NIA to probe the September 8 bomb attack outside Singh’s residence. Another crude bomb went off near his house around 9 am on Tuesday.
The Centre has asked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to provide security for Singh in view of these incidents although all central armed police personnel deployed to protect BJP leaders in Bengal were recently withdrawn and the state government was asked to take over the responsibility.
Led by a deputy inspector general of police, a 10-member team of the NIA reached Singh’s residence on Thursday afternoon and carried out forensic tests at the locations where the bombs had gone off. The officers also recorded the statements of Singh and his son Pawan, the local BJP legislator.
“Two NIA officers talked to me. I told them how my home has been targeted,” said Singh. The MP and his son have alleged in their police complaints that these were attempts to kill them.
{{/usCountry}}“Two NIA officers talked to me. I told them how my home has been targeted,” said Singh. The MP and his son have alleged in their police complaints that these were attempts to kill them.
{{/usCountry}}The NIA team also went to the office of the Barrackpore police commissioner.
Officers from Bhatpara police station earlier said that the bomb that went off on Tuesday was lying on the ground near a wall.
Arjun Singh left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) prior to the 2019 polls that witnessed several political clashes in the Barrackpore region. Singh, who was then the legislator from Bhatpara, bagged the Barrackpore seat by defeating the TMC’s sitting MP Dinesh Trivedi. The violence, however, did not end.
On September 8, at least three crude bombs were hurled by miscreants outside Singh’s residence. Eyewitnesses told police that two bombs hit the main gate of the house while a third landed inside the premises. The MP was not at home and no one was injured. Police arrested two people in this connection.
Singh is also the BJP’s observer for the Bhawanipore assembly bypoll in Kolkata where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting.